‘I shall have the more pleasure in attending to it as a friend,’ was the cordial reply.
‘Thank you; but I give you credit for knowing enough of me to be aware that I shall not take advantage of your generosity. You have heard the saying—there is no friendship in business.’
‘Happily, there are many exceptions to the rule,’ said Wrentham cheerfully.
‘This is not to be one of them. You are to regard the transaction as one coming to you in the ordinary course of business, but to be dealt with as a strictly confidential matter. Your clerks are to have nothing to do with it.’
There was something in his manner, calm and quiet as it was, which attracted Wrentham’s attention, puzzled him, and modified the enthusiasm with which he had begun the interview.
‘If you will explain, Mr Hadleigh, you will find me willing to do whatever you require, if it is possible.’
Mr Hadleigh looked steadily in the speaker’s face, and the latter leaned back on his chair, as if to afford a better light for the inspection. He endured the gaze with the placid smile of one who was prepared for the closest scrutiny into his character and motives. Apparently satisfied, Mr Hadleigh, speaking with much deliberation, proceeded:
‘I want in the first place a little information. You have been for some time doing business for Mr Austin Shield?’
The placid smile faded from the countenance of Gribble & Co., and the plural pronoun came into use again.
‘That is correct. He has intrusted us with various small commissions; but they are mere trifles, I believe, compared with those he has given to others. Indeed, I do not think he has treated us quite so liberally as he ought to have done.’